Essence Vitale Absolue
The first and simplest way the Gulikan use Ortam is as a stand-alone Discipline that allows the Perfumer to produce what is called the Essence Vitale Absolue, nothing less than the essential, supernatural scent of the Kindred’s own Vitae. The Perfumers then use this essence to infuse nearly any appropriate item — soap, oil, lotion, wax, powder, resin, tobacco, incense, cloth, paper, alcohol, salve, etc. — so as to turn that item into something not only fragrant, but also capable of subjecting those who smell it with the power of the Perfumer’s Blood.
Individuals who smell cologne produced in this fashion, for example, would be affected as if they had actually tasted a quantity of the vampire’s Vitae and are subject to some of the same effects they would suffer had they actually imbibed the blood. They may become addicted to the smell of the Gulikan’s Vitae, craving the scent as strongly as those who drink Kindred blood. In fact, their craving will make them much more likely to taste Vitae if presented with it, for they will clearly detect that the two are ultimately one and the same. A Perfumer who wears a perfume of Essence Vitale Absolue can literally have mortals following her like lapdogs, desperate to smell her scent and willing to do anything so as to have access to the fragrance.
Individuals who smell cologne produced in this fashion, for example, would be affected as if they had actually tasted a quantity of the vampire’s Vitae and are subject to some of the same effects they would suffer had they actually imbibed the blood. They may become addicted to the smell of the Gulikan’s Vitae, craving the scent as strongly as those who drink Kindred blood. In fact, their craving will make them much more likely to taste Vitae if presented with it, for they will clearly detect that the two are ultimately one and the same. A Perfumer who wears a perfume of Essence Vitale Absolue can literally have mortals following her like lapdogs, desperate to smell her scent and willing to do anything so as to have access to the fragrance.
Effect
Dramatic Failure: The attempt to craft the essence fails spectacularly. The Storyteller chooses an effect: either the Gulikan loses her sense of smell for a week (due to overstimulation in the laboratory) or she suffers three points of lethal damage in a painful lab accident.
Failure: The Gulikan is unable to create a fragrant essence.
Success: The Perfumer creates a potent Essence Vitale Absolue from her Vitae. She may apply this essence to any reasonable object or render it in any suitable form (an oil, a cologne, a pastille, etc.).
Exceptional Success: The character creates an uncommonly strong Essence Vitale Absolue from her Vitae. The character has a choice: she may choose to increase the duration of the essence’s functionality or she may increase its strength. If she chooses to increase the duration, the Essence Vitale Absolue remains effective for a week instead of a single night. If she increases its strength, those individuals who resist its effects suffer an additional –2 penalty on their resistance dice pools, but the essence functions only for a single scene instead of a full night.
Failure: The Gulikan is unable to create a fragrant essence.
Success: The Perfumer creates a potent Essence Vitale Absolue from her Vitae. She may apply this essence to any reasonable object or render it in any suitable form (an oil, a cologne, a pastille, etc.).
Exceptional Success: The character creates an uncommonly strong Essence Vitale Absolue from her Vitae. The character has a choice: she may choose to increase the duration of the essence’s functionality or she may increase its strength. If she chooses to increase the duration, the Essence Vitale Absolue remains effective for a week instead of a single night. If she increases its strength, those individuals who resist its effects suffer an additional –2 penalty on their resistance dice pools, but the essence functions only for a single scene instead of a full night.
Side/Secondary Effects
An individual subjected to the scent of the Essence Vitale Absolue is treated as if he had consumed a point of the Gulikan’s Vitae (except that he gains no sustenance from it). That is, the target experiences the heady rush of drinking Vitae, and may well become addicted to the scent and taste of Vitae. Additionally, one who smells the scent is considered to move one step toward a Vinculum with the individual Gulikan who crafted the essence. (Note that the third and fi nal step confi rming The Vinculum may not come from Essence Vitale Absolue — the last step must take the form of the standard draught of the vampire’s Vitae.)
One who inhales the scent and wishes to resist is entitled to a resistance roll. The player rolls Resolve + Stamina + Blood Potency – the Gulikan’s level of Ortam.
One who inhales the scent and wishes to resist is entitled to a resistance roll. The player rolls Resolve + Stamina + Blood Potency – the Gulikan’s level of Ortam.
Material Components
Cost: 1 Vitae per dose created
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Crafts + Ortam
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Extended (five successes; each roll represents one full night of laboratory work).
Applied Restriction
Modifier | Situation
+2 | Target has an existing Vinculum to another Kindred.
+1 | Target has tasted the Gulikan’s blood within the past month.
+1 | Target has succeeded on a resistance roll against this Gulikan’s Essence Vitale Absolue already (cumulative to a maximum of +3).
–1 | Target is one or two steps toward a Vinculum (toward the Gulikan or any other Kindred).
–1 | Target has failed a resistance roll against this Gulikan’s Essence Vitale Absolue already (cu mulative to a maximum of –3).
–2 | The target has a Blood Tie to the Kindred who created the essence.
+2 | Target has an existing Vinculum to another Kindred.
+1 | Target has tasted the Gulikan’s blood within the past month.
+1 | Target has succeeded on a resistance roll against this Gulikan’s Essence Vitale Absolue already (cumulative to a maximum of +3).
–1 | Target is one or two steps toward a Vinculum (toward the Gulikan or any other Kindred).
–1 | Target has failed a resistance roll against this Gulikan’s Essence Vitale Absolue already (cu mulative to a maximum of –3).
–2 | The target has a Blood Tie to the Kindred who created the essence.
But Vampires Don't Breathe
While vampires don’t actually breathe in the sense that mortals do, Kindred obviously have to inhale air in order to speak. Many other situations also require vampires to “breathe,” such as tracking a rival by scent, inhaling a bouquet of fl owers at Elysium or savoring the tang of blood and fear in one’s prey. As mentioned above, many Gulikan do, in fact, test the scents around them very frequently.The upshot of all this is that vampires aren’t inherently immune to Gulikan powers simply by dint of being vampires. If a character specifi cally states that he’s not breathing, then fair enough — but hold him to that. The Kindred are creatures who exult in sensory stimuli, and more than a few even thrill to the risk that certain environments impose on them. No, a Kindred’s not going to drown — but he may catch a tantalizing scent from the Kindred standing next to him.